Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden’s office announced this morning it will seek reconsideration of a ruling made yesterday in court that dismissed a negligent driving case against the 18-year-old who was driving the pickup truck involved in a Dec. 8 collision on U. S. Highway 12 at Mossyrock in which his passenger, 17-year-old Ryan Rashoff, was killed.

Benjamin Lamotte of Silver Creek was cited with second-degree negligent driving after the deadly crash with a logging truck.

The reason for yesterday’s dismissal in Lewis County District Court was an error in setting a hearing date beyond 120 days from the issuance of the infraction, according to a news release.

According to Golden’s office, Court Commissioner Wendy Tripp initially allowed a continuance at the request of Lamotte’s defense attorney, and then allowed another continuance at the request of the deputy prosecutor.

Tripp on Tuesday then agreed with a defense motion that she did not have the authority to grant the second continuance, and so she dismissed the infraction, according to the news release.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Sheriff Steve Mansfield is inviting the public to gather at noontime tomorrow at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis as the United States Honor Flag is raised and flown in tribute to fallen Deputy Stephen “Mike” Gallagher.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy died last August after his patrol vehicle struck an elk on U.S. Highway 12 in Packwood as he responded to a call.

The honor flag, flown at ground zero, has traveled across the country and flown to symbolize sacrifice, bravery and the call to duty in honor of law enforcement, firefighting and the military, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The flag flies today and tomorrow for officers who died in the line of duty during 2009 in Washington, including Gallagher and officers from Seattle, Lakewood, Grant and Pierce counties.

The former county courthouse sits north of West Main Street, in between Chehalis and Pacific avenues.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters were called to a structure fire on Saturday afternoon at a home on Pine Drive, west of Chehalis.

Furniture in the living room had caught fire and extended into the walls and the ceiling, according to the fire investigator.

The mother awoke from a nap to find the smoke level was halfway down to the floor, fire investigator Jay Birley said today of the 3:45 p.m. call.

“She grabbed the two kids and got out,” Birley said.

There was quite a bit of smoke damage in the living room area, he said. The cause is still under investigation.

Lewis County Fire Districts 6 and 5 just an hour earlier, had been called out to a kitchen fire at a double-wide mobile home on Chehalis Valley Drive.

The resident had extinguished a grease fire on the stove, but later heard popping noises and called the fire department, Birley said. Fire had gotten into the ventilation duct and into the attic.

Birley estimated about $5,000 damage to that home.

Birley also said today a Wednesday fire at a residence in Randle was believed to have started in a light fixture in a bathroom.

A resident of the double-wide mobile home on Kelly Lane doused the flames with a garden hose as best he could, but flames got into the ceiling and the attic, according to Birley.

The resident’s phone wouldn’t work, so he ran to a neighbor’s home to call 911 about 12:50 a.m., Birley said. About half the attic there was damaged, he said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating an 18-year-old woman who was reported missing more than a month ago.

Kayla Mae Croft-Payne is somewhat transient, living most recently in the Chehalis area, according to the sheriff’s office.

Kayla Croft-Payne

A friend made a missing person report on May 5, after not seeing or hearing from Croft-Payne for several days, according to a news release. She has also not accessed her MySpace Internet account since April 28.

“We’ve exhausted all our leads,” sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust said this morning. “We don’t have any information she’s met with foul play, but we don’t have any information she’s safe and sound.”

Croft-Payne is a white female with blue eyes described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing about 105 pounds. The sheriff’s office released two photos of her yesterday hoping that will help in their investigation.

Kayla Croft-Payne

She has been known to frequent several locations in Lewis, Grays Harbor and Pierce counties, the sheriff’s office said. She did not have a job, according to Aust.

The sheriff’s office asks anyone with any information on her whereabouts to call  detective Jamey McGinty at 360-748-9286, referencing case number 10C4830. Also, information can be passed along anonymously through Crimes Stoppers of Lewis County at www.lewiscountycrimestoppers.org or the sheriff’s office new online crime tips page at http://tips.lewiscountywa.gov/

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A semi-truck slammed into the back of another semi-truck on northbound Interstate 5 at Centralia during the lunch hour, but no serious injuries were reported.

A trooper was called about 12:20 p.m. to the rear-end collision near milepost 81, Mellon Street.

The 2001 Peterbilt was towed from the scene with an estimated $4,000 damage, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The driver of the Peterbilt was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital with chest pain, where he was treated and has been released.  The state patrol attributed the crash to going too fast and failing to slow when traffic ahead slowed.

David R. Williamsen, 49, of Centralia, was driving the 1999 Freightliner that got hit. He was reportedly not injured and his truck was able to be driven from the scene, the state patrol reported.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Larry Ramsey usually uses his “game cam” to find good spots to hunt white-tailed deer, but after a series of thefts from his Chehalis business, he set up the device in his shop, and he’s caught one.

Game 'cam' picture taken inside Ramsey Co.'s shop on Hamilton Road in Chehalis.

The camera – which uses infra-red technology and a motion sensor – snapped a photo of an intruder inside his Hamilton Road building recently and the sheriff’s office is hoping someone will recognize the individual and give them a call.

Ramsey said thieves have been stealing pieces from his trucks and other equipment, both when they’re out at work sites and at the Ramsey Co. in Chehalis. They cut battery wires and welding leads for the copper they contain, he said. Some of the leads are up up to 60 feet long and are expensive to replace, he said.

The business, which employs about six people, manufactures custom buckets for use with heavy equipment used for mining sand and gravel. Ramsey Co. sells most of their machines in the Midwest.

Out in the woods, Ramsey might set the game cam up on a trail which might be populated by deer, and later check the photos with his laptop computer. But he found it has this other valuable use.

When Ramsey recently browsed the pictures captured by the game cam, he discovered a man had broken in about 10 p.m. on April 20. He looks like he’s in his 30s and of average size, Ramsey said.

“What he was looking for was copper,” Ramsey said. “There was an old welder he looked at, but they’d already stolen the leads off that.”

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An audit of the Salkum area fire department issued on Monday gave good marks for the agency’s accountability during the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Lewis County Fire District 8 protects about 200 square miles with annual budgets of roughly $400,000, according to the Washington State Auditor’s Office.

The state auditor’s routine evaluation of public agencies looks at activities such as compliance with bid laws, open meeting requirements, payroll and finances.

In the areas examined, the fire district complied with state laws, regulations and its own policies and procedures, the audit report dated June 1, 2010 noted. The audit also concluded the district’s internal controls were adequate to safeguard public assets, in the areas it reviewed.